Zutaran Piano: The Quest for Katara's Trust
by MidnightSchemer13
Summary: Katara is drawn to the mysterious piano that lurks in the Fire Palace, and who does she find? Kind of sad, but I guess it's okay... Sorry guys, ONESHOT :/


**Hey guys! This was slightly inspired by Corpse Bride (GO TIM BURTON~!) heheh yeah**

**So, um, I hope you enjoy, and I guess I MIGHT update this but maybe in like a month since I've got finals, exams, and about five-ish other stories that I have to update, so I apologize in advance ^^;**

**Disclaimer: Uh... I own the words...  
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><p>The piano keys were smooth and cold and pale under her touch. She sighed wistfully. It had been so long since she had last played the elegant instrument.<p>

Of course, running around the world with the Avatar trying to save the damned thing didn't leave much time for music.

Lightly tracing the obsidian surface, she marveled at how… how _clean_ it was. The room looked as if it had not been used for years, and yet, the piano remained without dust, and without a single scratch. She should not have wandered in, but the piano somehow… _drew_ her there.

_Maybe it's magic_¸ she thought, giggling. 

She played a key. It sounded a beautiful, clear note.

Katara played a few more notes, thinking about the tune.

Then she sat down and began playing one of her favorite pieces, a classical piece about the end of an ancient war many thousand years ago and the tragic blossoming love of the heroes. It was such a beautiful song, but the words were long lost to time and myth. She thought about it, and continued playing. Now a crescendo, now softer, now the long difficult part. Katara's brows furrowed as she concentrated.

_I always get this part wrong…_ Closing her eyes and playing from memory, she looked for her mistakes in the past.

Ah! She had always hit the wrong key; it was an octave higher, not seven keys! Still playing (for she had not stopped when she racked her memories), she bit her lip as she concentrated on getting it right.

To her amazement, she played it perfectly. Shocked, she almost stopped playing, but her fingers defied her brain and continued dancing their waltz, now higher, then lower, softer, softer, then louder, now for the finale!

She played the last notes with precision and sighed. It had been a while, and the effort had drained her: the piece was close to an hour long.

It was quiet in the room, and Katara was about to stand up and get ready to close up the piano when she heard clapping behind her. Whirling around, she defensively moved her hands toward her waterskin before realizing who was clapping. 

It was Fire Lord Zuko. 

Katara's dark skin turned a paler shade of mocha.

Zuko was leaning against the doorframe, feet crossed slightly, and with his long hair shaggy and almost covering his eyes. He looked impressed and amused at the same time.

"How did you get in here?" he asked quietly. Katara blushed scarlet.

"I… I don't know. The piano kind of… drew me here. Like it wanted to be played." Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. I know it sounds stupid, but… that's kind of what happened," she said sheepishly. "I didn't go snooping around." He smiled softly.

"I never said you did. But yes, that piano does have some kind of _call_ to it. Many times I have been pulled here against my will to play, but I always am glad I did whenever I do." His piercing gaze studied Katara thoughtfully, making her blush and suddenly feel shy.

"You play beautifully," he stated. "What song was that?" The Waterbender smiled at the compliment.

"Thank you. I don't know the name, but it was a tragic love song about the heroes about an ancient war thousands of years ago…" she grew quiet, thinking about the song. "Kind of like us," she said after a pause.

Zuko walked over to her and sat down, crossing his legs.

"How is it like us?" he inquired softly. Katara sat down in front of him, and drew her knees up to her chest.

"They call us "heroes", and I suppose we kind of are, saving the world and all that from the War, but you're Fire Lord, and I am a Waterbender, and—"

"And Aang is the Avatar, Sokka is your brother, Suki is his girlfriend, Toph is brilliant, and Azula is locked up. I don't understand your point," said Zuko, slightly teasing her but sincerely not understanding. Katara looked away.

"The girl in the song was in love with the boy, but could never be with him because he never noticed her. They fought together, traveled together, and were celebrated as heroes, along with ten others, but in the end, he was in love with some other girl, and she died of a broken heart." Understanding began dawning on Zuko's expression.

Katara stood up.

"I'm sorry," she choked out, and left the room.

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><p>Zuko's mind reeled in shock. <em>Did… did Katara just indirectly admit she… liked me? <em>

He sat there, stunned for a moment. Thoughts and memories played in his mind, flitting through one after another.

_She… liked me?_

Waking up to reality, Zuko blinked, and noticed small, watery drops on the wooden floor. Crawling over to them (in a most undignified manner for a Fire Lord, but he didn't care: it was too close to walk but far away enough that he couldn't see clearly what they were), he realized that they were Katara's tears.

Agni…

He mentally berated himself as he got up and walked toward the door. _You give up on her because you thought she didn't like you back? You don't notice until NOW that she likes you back? Agni, Zuko, you're an idiot! _Reaching the doorsill, he looked back at the piano. Shadow engulfed most of it, save what the light streaming in from the entrance hit. He felt a pang of guilt at closing it in darkness once more, but felt worse at remembering that Katara needed him far more than the strange piano did.

He left hurriedly, closing the door and concealing it behind the life-size portrait of one of his ancestors. _How did Katara get past that? _

Despairing at the worst but remaining determined to find Katara, Zuko began searching the Palace for his friend.

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><p><em>You fool…<em> thought Katara, tears rolling down her cheeks. _Zuko has Mai, what did you go open your silly mouth for? He'll think you foolish, and look how embarrassing this is! He'll never be able to look at you in the eyes again. That could have gone SO much better… why did you confess to him?_

_I didn't mean to… maybe it was the magic in the room…_

_I've gone crazy. I should leave, _thought Katara. _Pretend to be sick, or something…_

_No. If I get sick, Zuko will feel obliged to meet me and see if I'm okay. He'll feel uncomfortable and Toph will ask him why he's so awkward and she can tell if he's lying and… _

_I'm screwed._

She had fled from the piano room to her temporary bedroom in tears, angry at herself and horrified of what Zuko's reaction would be. _Coward. Peasant. Silly little girl…_

Locking her door, she ran to her bed and buried her head in the pillows, sobbed softly, muffling her cries so no one would hear and try to help.

Spirits, please, Zuko, don't come here…

Someone knocked on her door. She could tell it was Aang: his knocking was always cheerful and random.

Knock-knock-knock, knock… knock!

"Katara? Let's go see a show!" he chirped. "I hear it's a really good one, it's about—"

"Go away, Aang," she said softly. Katara could just imagine his face falling.

"Katara, are you okay? You sound… sad. What's wrong?" Aang sounded genuinely concerned.

The Waterbender unlocked her door and opened it just a crack, enough for her to see Aang but not enough for him to see her.

"… I don't feel good. I want to be alone for a while, is that okay?" The Avatar's face creased in worry.

"You don't feel good? Are you sick? Katara—"

"Just leave me alone," she said, pleading with her voice.

He took the hint and left, giving her a strange look, one of hurt, worry, and something else she couldn't quite put her finger on.

Katara suddenly noticed the deafening silence, and felt more alone than ever.

Why did I send Aang away?

She closed the door softly and leaned against it, her back against the polished wood. Sliding down, she crumpled to the floor and hugged her knees closer to herself, tears staining her dress.

She felt cold.

Someone else knocked on her door: it was formal but soft.

"Katara?"

No… Zuko, just go away. Leave me alone… Katara did not reply. The Firebender knocked again, this time his knocking more urgent.

"Katara? Katara, are you alright? You're not… you can hear me, I can tell… please open up," he implored, fearing the worst. Katara looked up and stared at the window on the other side of the room. The curtains were softly fluttering in the summer breeze.

"…I can hear you…" she whispered softly, more to herself than to the Fire Lord.

Zuko sighed with relief.

She had not committed suicide out of humiliation.

Not that, of course, _Katara_ was the type to do that, but several years ago, there was a girl who had a crush on one of his friends and had killed herself out of humiliation when he saw her nearly drown.

His friend had left the Fire Nation in distress, and Zuko had not heard from him since.

"…Will you open the door?" he asked quietly. There was no reply.

Gently, he turned the handle of the door and pushed it open. He found that it was not locked, but Katara was sitting against it, effectively keeping him out. He closed the door again and sat down on the other side, back to door to back with Katara.

"You played beautifully," he said again, softly.

Katara glared at the window again. _You feel guilty because of my confession, Zuko. Go away._

"You know, Mai _is_ really pretty, and she's nice when she wants to be—"

_How tactless, Zuko. Why can't you just leave me alone?_

"—but I wanted to tell you that I've always liked you better than her…"

Her head snapped up, lightning fast.

Zuko jumped slightly when the door suddenly moved backwards. Katara's cerulean eyes peeked out.

"_What did you say?_" Zuko looked at her. Her eyes were red rimmed from tears, and they were wide with shock.

"I said that I wanted to tell you that I've always liked you better than her."

Katara began laughing insanely, cackling and giggling, reminding herself of Azula.

"You? Liked _me _better than Mai?" she immediately sobered up. "Don't make fun of me, Zuko. It's rude."

"I was being serious, Katara…"

She froze like the water in the North Pole. Regarding him warily, she almost glared at him.

"If you were so serious, why do you wait until now to tell me?"

Zuko looked at his hands.

"You were with Aang."

"Aang was with _me_."

"What's the difference?"

"He likes me. I like him; but not in the way he wants me to like him."

"Have you told him?"

"No! Well, sort of; I've told him that I think of him as a little brother, and that I wasn't sure of my feelings yet."

"There you go," Zuko said, smiling.

"Wait, what?"

"That was the reason I never told you. I thought that you thought of _me _as a sort of… brother," he said, guiltily remembering his betrayals; "and that if I told you that I liked you, then, what if you weren't sure of your feelings? You'd think it was a trick, wouldn't you? Why did you never tell _me_ that you liked me?" Katara blushed, and thanked the darkness for her cover: Zuko couldn't tell that her face was red-hued.

"…Well, you were a Prince—"

"You think that has to do with anything?" he interrupted, hurt that she'd think that. Katara did not look at him.

"…You were a Prince, and I was a Waterbending 'peasant': you were the enemy. I don't know when I started liking you, but I knew I had to stay away: Aang was much more important at the time, and he needed to master the elements. You might have used me to get Aang, like when you _tied me to a tree_," she giggled nervously. Zuko turned red.

"And since you were a Prince, I figured that you were already betrothed. Besides, why would a Fire Nation Prince ever fall for a Water Tribe girl? He probably already had lots of Fire Nation fangirls, I thought. So, I put you out of my mind.

"And, when the war was over, I found out that you were in love with _Mai_. I knew that it wasn't any of my business, so I let it be and tried to make myself like Aang. You looked happy with her, and I didn't want to ruin that. _For four years _I liked you. I figured that if you didn't notice me by then, then you probably never would." She looked up, startled out of her daze by something.

"Why am I telling you all this?" she asked, horrified, more to herself than to Zuko, and attempted to close the door, but for Zuko, who prevented her from doing so by jamming his arm in the door, slightly wincing.

"Don't push me out, Katara. I'm not lying, I really do like you," he said.

Katara gently took his hand and pushed it out, making sure that he didn't get hurt and that her door was locked.

"I… I need to think," came her muffled voice. Zuko sighed and continued sitting there.

"Guess I'll have to show her," he said to himself as he grinned, thinking up a plan that would cheer her up and prove to her that he really did like her.

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><p>See that button down there? The one that starts with 'R'? It's begging you to press it and write a review...<em> You are getting sleeeeepyyyyyyy~ <em>

Nah not really but review please! This is not my favorite fic but I figure that maybe you guys wanted more...

I am kind of getting sick of writing Zutara... I think I'll write a few more other stuff later

Until next time, take care!


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